Compilers are often written in the language they are compiling.
This creates a chicken-and-egg problem that leads users and distributors to rely on opaque, pre-built binaries of those compilers that they use to build newer versions of the compiler.

To gain trust in our computing platforms, we need to be able to tell how each part was produced from source.
We believe that opaque binaries are a threat to user security and user freedom since they are not auditable;
we believe the amount of bootstrap binaries should be minimized.

Benefits

Best practises

Are you developing or contributing to software that is affected by the bootstrapping problem?
Here we list best practises and practical examples
that can help you pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.

Collaboration projects

Solving bootstrapping problems in existing compilers and build systems requires collaboration.
Here is a list of long-term high-impact projects
that we would like to work on collaboratively.